Korg's monotribe leaked ahead of Musikmesse

When Korg's US trademark for "monotribe" was discovered in the lead up to Musikmesse, it was pretty obvious that we were about to meet a device that incorporated elements of the wonderful monotron analog synthesizer and the Electribe range - but that doesn't make these leaked shots any less exciting.

On the synth side, additions include an envelope generator (EG), triangle and square waveforms for the oscillator (VCO) and low frequency oscillator (LFO), the ability to route the EG and LFO to the VCO and VCF simultaneously. They've also changed the pitch control from a knob to an octave selector - which could be a blessing or a curse depending on how you like to use a synth.

From the Electribe family comes a very basic drum machine with a bass drum, snare drum and high hat, plus an eight-step step sequencer for the synth and drum machine. What we don't know is whether those drum sounds are generated using the analog signal path or from samples.

(Bear in mind I gleaned all of this from looking at the front panel, so there's a couple of things I'm not sure of and likely things that I've missed.)

No price or availability yet - though I'm hoping for "cheap and soon".

Tim originally came to Gizmag as a developer, much to the dismay of anyone who had to maintain, build on, or rewrite his code. After wearing every other hat that didn't have a head for it, he became CEO in 2010. Outside Gizmag, he trains Muay Thai and plays too much Destiny. All articles by Tim HanlonFollow @timhnln